Chapter 235 Division of Powers (Continued)

From the map, the territory occupied by Dionia in Sicily was the smallest among the three forces. In fact, Davos played a little trick, he did not encircle the entire Catania plain, and the eastern part of this plain was actually under the control of Antraporis.

"Other city-states, such as Agrigento, Gera, and Tindarius... are neutral city-states, serving as a buffer zone for Carthage, Syracuse, and Dionia." Davos wrote with a pen Pointing at the icons on the map, he said seriously.

Okridon looked at the map carefully, and suddenly said, "Does Messina also include among these neutral city-states?"

Although Messina's territory is not large, its location is important, so it can be regarded as a relatively important city-state in Sicily.

"Of course not!" Davos said without hesitation: "The citizens of New Messina are all colonizers from Loclery and Medema, who are the accomplices of Dionysius. During the war, he assisted Syracuse in blocking the Strait of Messina, and also attacked the port of Lijim many times. Lijim proposed to us Dionia and decided to attack Messina to ensure his own safety, Elder Dionia The House has agreed to their request to send troops together..." Davos once again concealed the fact that "Dionia and Lijim decided to jointly manage Messina".

Carthage is not a Greek city-state, and its two most important waterways do not need to pass through Messina, so it does not care much about it. Okriton looked at the map while thinking about the suggestion that Davos had just made. After a long time, he raised his head and said, "Dear King Davos, the Carthaginian Senate sent me here mainly to revise Dio. The friendly treaty signed between Niea and Carthage, and at the same time find out how Dionia's next war against Syracuse will proceed. I didn't expect... I didn't expect you to give me such a big one... um... …surprise! However, this is beyond my purview, and I must take your proposal back to the Senate and let them decide whether to accept it or not.”

Davos expressed his understanding, but at the same time he said unhurriedly: "I hope Carthage's reply can be faster, because the Syracuse people in the city of Sirius may not last a few days and should surrender." Davos confidently said these words with basis. The news of "Dionysius escaped" has been leaked, and the soldiers in the city panicked, and the Syracuses had to send someone out to make peace. And Davos took the opportunity to tell the messenger the latest battle situation in Sicily. Whether he believed it or not, there would be a bigger disturbance in the city of Sicily.

Okriton was shocked when he heard this. He understood what Davos meant. The surrender of the Syracuses in the city of Sirius would mean the basic end of the Southern Italian War. By then, Carthage would negotiate with Dionia, who had already slowed down. , the conditions may be different.

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After sending off the Carthaginian envoy who left in a hurry, Henepolis hurriedly asked, "Your Majesty, will the Carthaginians agree to your proposal?"

"Judging from the performance of the messenger just now and the situation in Carthage that we have investigated during this period,

The war-weariness in Carthage is indeed serious. Even if the situation in Sicily is very favorable for Carthage, many people in the Carthaginian senate will probably not agree to start a war..." Davos recalled the different views he had seen before. Less information about Carthage, he said: "What can be obtained through negotiation, how can the Carthaginians who value efficiency be stupid enough to use force to solve it. What's more, Carthage should understand that occupying the whole of Sicily is not only not good for it, but has great harm. "

"Why?" Henepolis asked curiously.

"You can see why when you think about it."

"...well...isn't it because that would provoke the wrath of the entire Greek world against it?"

"Yes. Carthage has occupied Sicily. Not only our great Greece, but also the Greek mainland will be directly threatened by a foreign race. How can we Greeks accept this situation! Carthage used to have a relationship with Syracuse in the past. In the war, you should be able to feel this, it is not only fighting against Syracuse, but also against the Greeks in Italy and the Greeks in Greece..." Davos said meaningfully.

"Oh, Carthage, of course, a city-state cannot overcome the power of the whole of Greece. Either way, it will ultimately fail."

"Heney, your teacher has been interested in Carthage recently, and has collected a lot of information about it. Have you read it?" Davos changed the subject and asked.

"Your Majesty, it's not like you don't know, I have been in Laos before, so I don't have time to visit the teacher." Henepolis felt a little uncomfortable when he mentioned Laos.

"I read these materials and discussed it with Ancitanos, and then I realized that the Phoenicians had quite a few colonies in the Western Mediterranean, and the colonies were much earlier than our Greeks, but why do we only know one What about Carthage?"

"Yes, why?" Henepolis asked with interest.

Davos explained in detail: "Because the way the Phoenicians colonized was different from our Greeks. The Greeks colonized because there were too many people and too few places to feed a larger population, and they were forced to colonize in order to survive in order to obtain new The land of the land, can survive... The Phoenicians colonized... No, it should not be called colonization, but a commercial act. The Phoenicians ventured to the Western Mediterranean hundreds of years ago in order to obtain high profits. As a result of their exploration, they discovered silver mines on the Iberian Peninsula and precious metal mines in Sardinia... In order to collect these precious metals and transport them back to the Phoenician soil, they built a lot of mines on the coast of Africa and western Sicily. business stack.

Please note that it is a store, not a town! Most of the Phoenicians in the trading store were engaged in metal processing and transshipment trade. In order to meet their daily needs, they had to trade with the neighboring natives and our Greek city-states, so the Phoenicians were the most popular in the Western Mediterranean. A race that can integrate into the local environment and live in harmony with the surrounding aliens. Even if there was a royal battle in the Phoenician soil, some members of the royal family of Tyre fled to Carthage, which led to the rise of Carthage, replacing Tyre, the mother state of the Phoenician soil, and becoming a new trading center for the Phoenicians in the Western Mediterranean. , Carthaginians and Greeks live in harmony—"

"Wait a minute, Your Majesty. The Carthaginians are full of malice towards the Sicilian Greeks, and they have repeatedly invaded the Greeks' territory, and they have sacrificed children and behaved ugly!" Henepolis interrupted Davos abruptly, said angrily.

Davos didn't care, he smiled lightly: "It is their custom in Carthage to sacrifice children, and I will not comment. But according to your teacher's conclusion after checking the information, it is, 'It is precisely how many of us Greeks are. The first initiative to attack Carthage's allies led to its counterattack.'

A hundred years ago, the Spartan prince Dorias claimed that the land near Eryx in western Sicily was once the resting place of his ancestor Hercules, so he wanted to build a city there. Eryx was the religious center of the Carthaginians in Sicily. How could it be possible for the arrogant Spartans to build a city, so Carthage launched a war to drive away the Greek coalition forces brought by Sparta.

Decades ago, the army of Syracuse tyrant Dillon launched an attack on Carthage's friendly ally Himera, which attracted Carthaginian reinforcements. After Dillon defeated Carthage, he portrayed the war as a great victory comparable to the victory of the Greek coalition against the Persians.

Over the years, most of the horror images of the Carthaginians have been deliberately spread by the Syracuses, so as to force the other city-states of Sicily to unite around it..."

"Your Majesty, are you saying that this is all a conspiracy of the Syracuses?!" Henepolis was extremely surprised.

"The Carthaginians' mother states, Tyre and Sidon, cannot provide new immigrants as continuously as the Greeks. The Carthaginians, who have a small population, may always be wary of the Greek immigrants coming from the Eastern Mediterranean. The coveted hearts of western Sicily, so they have to show force from time to time to deter the greed of these people..."

After Davos finished speaking sternly, Henepolis laughed: "Your Majesty, when you talk like this, you don't seem to be Greek."

Davos said with a straight face: "Only from the standpoint of a neutral can we experience the true feelings of the Carthaginians. I think Carthage at this time will be happy to accept the friendship of a powerful neighbor from Greece!" Davos said this, but what he thought in his heart was: At this time, Dionia can't afford to offend Carthage, which has a strong war potential. Don't wake it up, let him continue to do business, trade, Run a farm.

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Using their familiarity with the east coast of Sicily, Dionysius' ship escaped their pursuit by bringing the pursuing Diorian Clippers into the reef area. When passing Taunis, the ship bypassed the blockade of the Dionysian fleet and finally reached the island of Ortigia.

Ortigia Island is surrounded by the sea on three sides, and is full of cliffs and cliffs. There are also city walls built on it, and its defense is quite strict. It also has a small port of its own, but unless the islanders allow it, neither ships nor access to the island, but for Dionysius this was no problem.

As soon as Dionysius landed on the island, Hiparinus, Calidemus, and the leader of the mercenary mercenary Megicollis rushed over to receive the news.

"Blessed by Apollo! Lord Dionysius, you are finally back! While you were away, Haroris launched a rebellion, and he instigated..."

After listening to the long-winded narration of the minister Callidmus, Dionysius' heart sank to the bottom. When he saw the Dionysian fleet on the sea near Taunis, he had a very bad heart. The hunch, and now the hunch has become a reality, he did not expect that the situation in Syracuse would be so bad: the coalition army led by Marcias was defeated by the Dionysian army, and almost all the city-states north of Syracuse rebelled. out of Syracuse's control. The entire city of Syracuse, with the exception of Ortikia Island, has become the world of rebels...

The more he listened, the more annoyed he became, and he couldn't help shouting: "So much nonsense! Stop talking!"

Callidmus immediately fell silent.

Dionysius stood there, gasping for breath, straightening out his disturbed thoughts a little, and looked up at his father-in-law: "Where is Philistos?!"